Anthropology

﻿ANTH 195. Cultural Anthropology.3 credits (C, R).
An introduction to the nature of culture and its relationship to language, economics, politics, kinship and other institutions in diverse cultures. The course also provides an overview of the theories, methods and ethical responsibilities involved in the study of cultural systems and ethnographic writing. May be used for general education credit.

﻿ANTH 196. Biological Anthropology.3 credits (B, R).
An introduction to the origins, evolution and genetic variability of humans and their relationship to nonhuman primates. Examination of the fossil record, the relationship between biology and culture and human genetics are included. Theories and methods used in the study of biological anthropology are also introduced. May be used for general education credit.

﻿ANTH 197. Archaeology.3 credits (A, R).
An introduction to the goals, methods and theory of anthropological archaeology. The course examines the variety of techniques archaeologists use to reconstruct the past from material remains. Archaeological ethics and the impact of the past on contemporary society are also considered.

﻿ANTH 201. The Discipline of Anthropology.1 credit (R). This required course introduces students to the subdisciplines of cultural, biological, linguistic and archaeological anthropology and the logic of their integration within the larger discipline of anthropology. Students will be introduced to current research questions within anthropology and how they are addressed from the perspective of the various subdisciplines. Prerequisites: Major status or permission of the instructor. It is recommended that students have had at least one of the introductory-level ANTH courses (ANTH 195, ANTH 196 or ANTH 197).

﻿ANTH 205. Buried Cities, Lost Tribes: The Rise and Fall of Early Human Societies.3 credits (A). This course takes an archaeological and comparative perspective on the origins of human institutions, including art, architecture, religion, centralized political formations and urban life. The development and collapse of early societies in multiple world regions, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, Mesoamerica and the Andes will be explored. May be used for general education credit.

﻿ANTH 250. Anthropology of the American Southwest.3 credits (A, C). This course examines the development of Southwestern societies from early hunter-gatherers to the Native American communities of today. Major issues of anthropological interest, such as the adoption of agriculture, the development of village life, migration and abandonment, the spread of religious “cults,” the extent of Mesoamerican influence and the effects of the Spanish conquest are explored.

﻿ANTH 265. Peoples and Cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean.3 credits (C).
Anthropological and historical perspectives on the cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean through such themes as colonialism, nationalism, ethnicity, development, aesthetic traditions, gender, religion and urban and rural resistance movements.

﻿ANTH 280. Peoples and Cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa.3 credits (C).
This is an introductory course emphasizing cultural diversity of sub-Saharan African societies. Basic anthropological concepts are used in analyzing African economics, political systems, marriage patterns and family organization, religious beliefs and the impacts of colonialism and post-colonial development practices.

﻿ANTH 295. Peoples and Cultures of East Asia.3 credits (C). This introductory course examines the peoples and cultures of the core East Asian countries – China, Japan and Korea. The course is organized around anthropological perspectives on topics such as nationalism, consumption, gender, ethnicity and development but also emphasizes the cultural, social and historical characteristics of various groups in these nations, in addition to important cultural flows within region.

﻿ANTH 300. The Anthropology of Food.3 credits (C). This course explores anthropological approaches to food production, distribution, preparation and consumption in the contemporary world. Topics include food preferences and taboos, food and the senses, ritual and identity, technological risks, diet and nutrition, cuisine and class and the political economy of food. Prerequisite: Any lower-level course in anthropology or permission of the instructor.

﻿﻿ANTH/SCOM 305. Language and Culture.3 credits (C). An introduction to linguistic anthropology. Explores the complex relationships between language and culture through topics such as language acquisition and socialization; language, thought and worldview; language and identity; multilingualism; how and why languages change; literacy; and the politics of language use and language ideologies.

﻿﻿ANTH/SOCI 306. Japanese Society and Culture.3 credits (C). This introductory course takes a critical and interdisciplinary approach to exploring Japan. We will apply Sociological, Anthropological, and Demographic perspectives to comparatively understand, analyze, and discuss Japanese society and culture. Students will read and discuss issues related to history, socio-demographic change, gender, work, social class, race/ethnicity, family, health care, and aging in Japanese society.

﻿ANTH 312. The Native Americans.3 credits (A, C). A study of the nature of Indian societies occupying different environmental areas of North America at the time of earliest historic contact. Indian groups such as Shawnee, Mandan, Nuunamiut, Natchez, Creek, Iroquois and Sioux will be considered.

﻿﻿ANTH/SOCI 313. Processes of Social and Cultural Change.3 credits (A, C). Investigates the procedures through which a society operates and the manner in which it introduces and incorporates changes. Issues considered include belief, innovation, directed change, coercive change, revitalization and revolution.

﻿ANTH 315. Human Evolution.3 credits (B). An overview of the fossil record and other evidence for human evolution. Discusses the emergence of the hominids as a lineage distinct from other apes. Provides evidence for the evolution of bipedalism, tool use, hunting/gathering, major increases in brain size, language and material culture and the hypotheses that have been developed to explain the emergence of these characteristics. Prerequisites: ANTH 196, or BIO 114 and BIO 124, or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 316. Human Evolutionary Psychology.3 credits (B). An exploration of human behavior from an evolutionary perspective. Emphasis is placed on the critical evaluation of adaptive hypotheses purported to explain fundamental human behaviors such as survival and mating strategies, reproduction and parenting, kinship and cooperation, dominance and aggression, cultural evolution and religion. Prerequisite: ANTH 196 or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 317. Primate Evolutionary Ecology.3 credits (B). This course explores the interface between an organism and its environment, illustrated with examples from the primates. Behaviors related to feeding, moving, grouping and socializing are considered from an evolutionary perspective. Topics to be discussed include feeding ecology, functional anatomy, the ecology of primate social systems, ranging behaviors, community ecology and the role humans play in shaping primate communities. Prerequisite: ANTH 196 or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 318. The Evolution of Primate Sexuality and Reproduction.3 credits (B). A survey of non-human primate sexuality from an evolutionary perspective. Emphasis is placed on the diversity of behavioral, anatomical and physiological aspects of mating and reproduction across the order Primates. Where appropriate, comparisons with human sexuality are made. Prerequisite: ANTH 196 or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 319. Human Osteology.3 credits. (B) An analysis of the individual bones and teeth that comprise the human skeleton. Emphasis is placed on learning individual bones and teeth as well as the numerous osteological and dental landmarks that characterize them. Applied topics such as bone growth and the analysis of age, sex, stature, pathology and geographic ancestry will also be addressed. Prerequisite: ANTH 196 or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 322. Human Variation and Adaptation.3 credits (B). This course will assess human biology from an evolutionary and anthropological perspective, emphasizing an integrative, holistic understanding. The origin and current distribution of human biological variation will be explored, including geographic, sex and individual variation. Health and disease, growth and development, aging, nutrition and mental health will also be addressed. Prerequisite: ANTH 196 or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 323. Anthropology and Photography.3 credits (C). This course explores the anthropological use of photographic data for the description, analysis, communication and interpretation of human behavior. Topics include phenomenological, cross-cultural and historical understanding of still photography; the social life of photographs; visual cultural production and the consumption of photographs; and still photography after colonialism, globalization, and postmodernity.

﻿ANTH 325. Aztec, Maya and Their Predecessors.3 credits (A, C). Survey of the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Maya and Aztec civilizations and the factors leading to their development, persistence and decline.

﻿ANTH 327. Ancient North American Civilizations.3 credits (A). Studies the emergence of Native American societies prior to historic contact. Emphasizes prehistoric developments in the eastern United States.

﻿﻿ANTH/HIST 331. Historical Archaeology.3 credits (A). The course introduces students to the purposes, subject matter, methodology and historical background of the discipline of historical archaeology. Building on research issues and methodologies of anthropological archaeology and history, the multidisciplinary aspects of this field are introduced through field trips, projects, guest lectures, readings and classroom presentations.

﻿ANTH 333. Celts, Vikings and Tribal Europe: Art and Culture from 500 to 1100 AD.3 credits (A). Building on a heritage of archaeology, art, history, material culture, mythology and literature, the course introduces students to the cultures and traditions of the Celtic, Viking (Norwegian, Danish and Swedish) and Germanic tribal and theocratic cultures that shaped the early civilizations of northern Europe, Britain and Ireland from ca. 500 A.D. to 1100 A.D.

﻿ANTH 340. The Invention of Race.3 credits (C). Examines the historical and cultural construction of race in Western thought. Themes include the origins of racial thinking, the slave trade, race and religion, race and science, the ways race is implicated in colonialism and nationalism and the relation between race and other social qualities, including gender, class, sexuality and ethnicity.

﻿ANTH 350. Magic, Witchcraft and Religion.3 credits (C). Anthropological study of religion in society. The influence of religion on the development of social, legal, governmental and economic aspects of culture is emphasized.

﻿﻿ANTH/SOCI 352. Birth, Death, Sex: Exploring Demography.3 credits (B,C). Fertility (birth) and mortality (death) and their biological and social determinants in cross-cultural and evolutionary/historical frameworks. Exploration of the dynamic between the material constraints on and symbolic significance of, reproduction, sexuality and death within a cultural context. Critical examination of population growth as a global “problem.” Basic demographic methods. Prerequisite: Any lower-level course in anthropology or sociology or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 360. Medical Anthropology.3 credits (C). This course takes an anthropological approach to the study of health, illness and healing; how do different cultural systems and social institutions influence the experience and interpretation of different bodily states? Material covers critical analyses of Western medicine and ethnomedicine in both specific cultural settings and their global circulation. Topics include disease epidemics, illness narratives, public health, suffering, pharmaceuticals, disability and health care systems. Prerequisite: ANTH 195 or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 364. U.S. /Latin American Borders.3 credits (C). This course examines the experiences of Latin American migrants to the United States. It stresses the cultural expression of those experiences, globalization and its effects on local communities in Latin America, the U.S. responses to migration and migrants. Prerequisite: One course on Latin America.

﻿ANTH 366. Anthropology of War.3 credits (A, C). This course examines the causes, conduct and consequences of warfare in non-state societies using both ethnographic and archaeological data. Case studies drawn from throughout the world are used to examine topics such as the co-evolution of war and society, the impact of colonialism on native warfare, the process of making peace and claims about the biological “inevitability” of war.

﻿﻿ANTH/SOCI 368. Contemporary American Culture.3 credits (C). This course analyzes contemporary American society in relation to popular cultural formations and representations. Cultural expressions found in music, literature, theatre, film, television, cyberspace and sports will be examined with respect to values, sentiments, identity constructions and lived experiences of differentially situated social actors.

﻿ANTH 370. Topics in the Anthropology of Gender.3 credits (C). This course examines the many ways in which gender is constructed and negotiated in different historical and social contexts. Topics will vary with the instructor to include both cultural and biocultural perspectives.

﻿ANTH 373. Anthropological Perspectives on Environment and Development.3 credits (C). This seminar provides a history of key ideas and figures in environmental anthropology, as well as examines why this field is, by necessity, interdisciplinary. Within this context, we will use specific case studies to examine ways in which the concepts and theories of “development” and “environment” have been produced, perpetuated, manipulated and challenged in different geographic and politico-economic circumstances. Prerequisite: ANTH 195 or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 375. History of Theory in Sociocultural Anthropology. 3 credits (C, R, W). An examination of the major theoretical traditions in social and cultural anthropology. Important theoreticians and the historical contexts in which their work emerged are discussed. Fulfills the College of Arts and Letters writing-intensive requirement for the major. Prerequisites: ANTH 195 and junior standing.

﻿ANTH 376. Anthropology of Reproduction.3 credits (C). This course provides students with a critical and cross-cultural perspective on human reproduction. Examining how individuals draw on social and symbolic resources to sort out complicated private decisions, we will discuss how reproductive experiences are embedded in local, national and transnational politics. Topics covered may include: cross-cultural perspectives on childbearing and childlessness, kinship, and the globalization of new reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization. Prerequisite: ANTH 195 or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 377. Space/Culture/Power.3 credits (C). An introduction to social-scientific approaches to space. We will think critically about how people across cultures shape – and are shaped by – the spaces we occupy. Drawing on examples from around the world we examine the intersections of space, culture and power through such topics as segregation, maps, architecture, prisons, schools, migration politics and more. The course encourages students to think of space – and its intersections with culture and power – in new and sophisticated ways. Prerequisite: ANTH 195.

﻿ANTH 389. Ethnographic Experience in Dominica.3 credits. (C) This course is an anthropological case study of Dominica, an independent post-colonial island nation in the Eastern Caribbean. The course entails extensive background study of the island’s history, culture and languages, combined with hands-on ethnographic, service-learning and cross-cultural experiences during an Alternative Spring Break in Dominica. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

﻿﻿ANTH/SOCI 390. Topics in Cultural Studies.3 credits (C). This course explores contemporary culture through a “cultural studies” lens, an interdisciplinary perspective interested in using empirical knowledge to encourage more just human relations. Specific topics of investigation will vary by semester, but each course will cover cultural studies’ intellectual history and its application to cultural expressions found in everyday life, film, music and text.

﻿ANTH 391. Study Abroad.1-6 credits (May be A, B, C, F). Designed to encourage students to enhance their academic programs through studying abroad. Arrangements must be made with a faculty member who will direct the study with preparatory instructions and final requirements. May be repeated up to 12 credits.

﻿ANTH 395. Special Topics in Anthropology.3 credits (May be A, B or C). Examination of selected topics which are of current importance to anthropology. May be repeated for credit when course content changes.

﻿ANTH 405. Topics in Linguistic Anthropology.3 credits (C). Examines current issues in the anthropology of language. Topics vary by semester, but each course will include hands-on analysis of social interaction and /or investigation of contemporary case studies of language policy, ideologies and use.

﻿ANTH 410. Spatial Analysis for Anthropologists.4 credits (A, B and C). The course teaches students how to identify and solve anthropological problems with spatial dimensions. Hands-on experience is stressed in the acquisition, analysis and display of spatial data using Geographic Information Systems software. Topics include the mapping of race and ethnicity, the spatial distribution of cultural variables and human modification and use of the landscape. Prerequisite: ANTH 195, ANTH 196 or ANTH 197.

﻿ANTH 411. Topics in Ethnographic Film.3 credits (C). An examination of current issues in the study of ethnographic film. The course studies the changing role, practice and methods of film in anthropological research and scholarship. Topics include methods and genres of ethnographic film composition; the scientific status of filmed data; cross-cultural visual literacies; narrative form as social scientific inquiry; film and sensory data; sound, subtitles and translations; “indigenous media;” and audience reception. Prerequisite: ANTH 195.

﻿ANTH 415. Anthropological Genetics.3 credits (B). Surveys the theory and methods of evolutionary genetics as applied to human evolution and human diversity. Emphasizes human evolution as illuminated by genetics, as well as the intersection of human genetics with social issues such as racism, bioethics and eugenics. Prerequisite: ANTH 196.

﻿ANTH 430. Primate Conservation Biology.3 credits (B). A discussion-based course that examines the impact of human activities on biodiversity, with an emphasis on the primates. Concepts and theories in conservation biology will be explored and applied to understanding the threats to wild primates and evaluating conservation strategies. Cultural and political perspectives and philosophical and ethical arguments for conserving biodiversity will also be considered. Prerequisite: ANTH 196 or BIO 124 or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 435. Ethnographic Genres and Methods.4 credits (C,F). Explores ethnographic methods and conventions of ethnographic writing through close reading, analysis and production of ethnographic texts. Students develop critical skills in assessing ethnographic practice by examining how ethnographies are shaped by authors’ fieldwork experiences, intellectual traditions and theoretical perspectives. Students engage in fieldwork and craft their own ethnographic accounts. Prerequisite: ANTH 375.

﻿﻿ANTH/HIST 436. Afro-Latin America.3 credits (C). Latin America and the Caribbean were the first and largest parts of the Western Hemisphere to be populated by Africans. Afro-Latin America examines cultural formations Africans brought to these regions. Beginning with an overview of the slave trade, it examines the histories of Africans and African-descent people throughout Latin America, as well as contemporary Afro-Latin American culture(s). Prerequisites: One course in either Latin American or Africana studies (any discipline); upper-division status or permission of the instructor.

﻿ANTH 455. Archaeology: Methods of Analysis and Interpretation.4 credits (A, F). A review of the nature of inquiry, recent theory and the means by which archaeologist acquire, analyze and interpret their data. In addition to practical training in methods of analysis used in contemporary practice, students will gain experience in designing, conducting and reporting archaeological research. Prerequisites: ANTH 195 and ANTH 197.

﻿ANTH 485. Anthropology Course Assistantship.1-3 credits. Students participate as course assistants in anthropology. Assistantships provide students with a sense of what it is like to teach an anthropology course by allowing them to work closely with faculty members through different phases of course preparation, presentation and evaluation. Assistantships also allow for a deeper understanding of course material by providing opportunities for student assistants to lead discussion and to help their peers review the material outside of the classroom. Prerequisites: Students must have junior /senior standing, must have earned a grade of “B” or better in the course for which he/she will serve as assistant and may register by faculty invitation only. May be repeated up to six credits; only three credits can count toward the major. A student may only serve as a course assistant to the same course twice.

﻿ANTH 486. Internship in Anthropology.1-6 credits (May be A, B or C). Designed to encourage students to enhance their academic programs by employing and refining anthropological skills through internships in public or private agencies. Arrangements must be made with a faculty member who will oversee the internship. Prerequisite: By permission only. May be repeated up to six credits.

﻿ANTH 490. Special Studies in Anthropology.1-3 credits (May be A, B or C). Course offers students an opportunity to do independent study under staff supervision. Prerequisite: Admission only by recommendation of the instructor. More than one repeat requires department head approval.

﻿﻿﻿ANTH/ARTH/HIST 492. Material Culture.3 credits (A). A broad introduction to the multidisciplinary “field” of material culture studies through readings, written assignments, in-class exercises and field trips. The course introduces ways of looking at and learning from objects and examines how scholars from several disciplines have used material culture in their work. Prerequisite: HIST 395. Instructor’s permission required to waive HIST 395 prerequisite for non-history majors.

﻿ANTH 494. Field Techniques in Archaeology.4-8 credits (A, F). Laboratory course directed at teaching students the basic field techniques and procedures of historic and prehistoric archaeology. Classroom lectures will present techniques and relevant aspects of method and theory.

﻿﻿ANTH/HIST 496. Research Thesis.3 credits (A). Students will gather, analyze and interpret archaeological/historical data over two semesters. Students will work on a project that demonstrates theory, research design, data gathering and analysis, culminating in a written thesis. The course meets the capstone requirement for the historical archaeology minor but is also available to students in history and anthropology. Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.

﻿ANTH 499. Honors Thesis.6 credits. (May be A, B, or C). Three semesters. An independent research topic initiated and completed by qualified senior majors who want to graduate with distinction.